Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Boston strong, Berg on thin ice
A few months ago there was chatter this retelling of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing was in line for Oscar recognition – but not a single nomination followed.
A mistake to rival the shambolic Best Picture winner cock-up at Sunday night’s glittering ceremony? Not quite.
Patriots Day is a powerful piece of work that pays respectful tribute to the victims of the horrific blasts near the finish line of the annual race, but is too flawed to merit greatness status.
The traumatic drama sees the third team-up between director Peter Berg and leading man Mark Wahlberg, with the latter Boston-born star playing fictional cop Tommy Saunders.
Berg’s casting of his new muse is the film’s first mistake; Wahlberg’s passion for his home city and its people shines through, however he feels miscast in such weighty subject matter and occasionally ventures into his Other Guys persona during moments of levity.
The story – penned by Berg and four other collaborators – shoehorns in too much cutesy banter and the terrorists responsible for the atrocity are too ‘boo-hiss’ one-dimensional, although Alex Wolff (Dzhokhar Tsarnaev) does some fine work.
Taking the United 93 approach of following the victims, perpetrators and those caught in the middle doesn’t quite work so well as a result, but characters whose presence you initially question play their part and the pieces of the puzzle come together quite nicely.
It’s actually the less familiar faces in front of the camera who impress the most – especially Jimmy O. Yang (Dun Meng) – with Michelle Monaghan (Carol) saddled with the thankless ‘wife at home’ role, J.K. Simmons (Sergeant Pugliese) barely registering and the most notable thing about John Goodman’s (Commissioner Davis) appearance being his new slimline figure.
Like much of his previous work (Deepwater Horizon, Lone Survivor), Berg is more adept at bombastic blow-outs and intense drama than fleshed-out, thought-provoking storytelling.
The film’s highlight – though a tough watch – is the blistering recreation of the marathon itself and the horrendous aftermath of the bombing.
Berg’s camera has every angle covered – including close-ups and security footage – and the double blasts are a jolt to the body and soul. But even that pales in comparison to the distressing immediate fallout as smoke, blood, gore and panic combine to visceral effect.
The quickfire investigation and manhunt that follows makes use of reconstructions and video analysis and Berg even proves a dab hand at small-scale action with a tense street shoot-out.
Despite the two-hourplus length, it’s pacy stuff and concludes with a touching, patriotic denouement.
But you can’t help but wonder what a surer directorial hand could’ve achieved with this haunting moment in US history.